This October, join us for our second show in St. Louis, where we'll present five true, personal stories about resilience in science.
Hosted by Eli Chen and Zack Stovall. This show is in partnership with St. Louis Public Radio.
Stories by:
Rebecka Brasso is an assistant professor of biology at Southeast Missouri State University. Rebecka and her graduate students currently study the effects of legacy lead contamination on songbirds in the Southeast Missouri Lead Belt as well as examining mercury availability to songbirds and arthropods in local wetlands. As a field biologist, her research has taken her across the US, from the Pacific coastal range to the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia catching mercury to understand mercury exposure in aquatic and terrestrial habitats.
Gerardo Camilo is a professor of biology at Saint Louis University, and a native of Puerto Rico. He is also a conservation fellow of the St. Louis Zoo. His current research focuses on bee diversity in urban environments in midwest cities, namely St. Louis, Chicago and Detroit. He has always been interested in nature and working in the outdoors. His work has taken him to Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, and Boliva. Besides working with bees, he has also worked with many other insect groups, bats, and plants. Over the many years of work in the tropics he has experienced all sorts of adversities in the field, from falls and twisted ankles to landslides and storms. Equally, he has experienced tremendous fortune working and living in the field.
While conducting his Anthropology Master's research in South Africa in June 2012, Andrew Oberle was mauled by two adult male chimpanzees and nearly lost his life. His remarkable recovery has led him to help other traumatically injured patients, serving as the Director of Development for the Oberle Institute, a holistic trauma program being developed at Saint Louis University that aims to give other trauma patients the resources necessary to have an equally successful recovery. Andrew shares his story of survival hoping to inspire others as they experience tough times and create a national dialogue about the effects of resilience and community on a thriving recovery.
Born and raised in St. Louis, Sarah Pearl is an up-and-coming comedian, musician, and storyteller. She's performed throughout the Midwest, most notably at Laugh Factory Chicago, Helium Comedy Club, and one time, a back porch without a coat during winter. Her honest and sardonic style has been referred to as, "kind of sad, but really funny." Sarah will be debuting the story of her experience with mental illness and she hopes the storytelling class she took when she was eight pays off. You can follow her at @standupsarah.
Leah Shaffer is a freelance science writer based in St. Louis whose stories have appeared in Wired, The Atlantic and Discover magazines. She writes about biology, medicine, and the weird critters inside and outside the human body. You can read about her complaints and schemes on Twitter as @LeahabShaffer